Grimm Lecture 2025

When Kafka died in 1924 at the age of forty, he had published only a modest number of short stories and other small pieces. Yet even though his three novels had not yet appeared, and his published works were known only to a handful of Central European literati, the foundations of his worldwide fame were already laid. A century later, Kafka endures as one of the most iconic voices – and faces – of modern literature. What is it about the life and literature of this unassuming Jewish man from Prague that has resonated with readers across cultures and generations? In search of an answer, this lecture will move from Weimar Berlin, where Kafka was a fixture in one of the most important cultural magazines of the 1920s, to the 2020s, when Han Kang, first introduced to English-language readers as ‘Korea’s Kafka’, became the country’s first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Please note this is a hybrid event - you can attend in-person or online so when registering please choose the correct ticket type. This event is FREE and open to all, however, we require registration to help with our catering numbers and to provide a secure link to the event.